A Time of Fear

In the late 1940s and 1950s the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a power struggle called the cold war. Many people on both sides saw this conflict as a war between the economic theories of capitalismand communism. After World War II, countries in Eastern Europe occupied by the Soviets became communist. China also became a communist state. This led to fears in the U.S. that communists would take over the world.

A 50s comic book warns of communism

U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy played on these fears by claiming that many in the U.S. government and the entertainment industry were communists and under the control of the Soviet Union. These claims turned out to be largely untrue, but the damage was done as hundred of people were called to testify before the House Un-American Activities committe of the U.S. congress. Many of these people had liberal political views or had shown sympathy with communist ideas in the past. But when they were called to testify, these people faced a terrible choice. They could plead the 5th amendment, which protects people from self-incrimination, or they could testify. Many testified that they were not communists, but they were then asked to name names of people they knew who were communists. Many people refused to speak because they did not want to cause trouble for their friends. Others caved under the pressure and named names. Most people who were called to testify were blacklisted. Many of the teachers, writers, actors and directors who were blacklisted lost their jobs and found it hard to find new ones.

Senator Joseph McCarthy

By the mid 1950s, people in the U.S. were starting to grow worried about Senator McCarthy and his methods. Television broadcasts of the hearings in 1954 made many people believe that McCarthy was a bully. Edward R. Murrow, a famous television journalist ran a TV special on McCarthy that also showed a side of McCarthy that many people found troubling. Many of the rulings against witnesses were overturned in court and Senator McCarthy was censured, or punished. As Murrow said at the end of his TV special,"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men.

Sources

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/murrowmccarthy.html


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